Seiko announced at Baselword 2014 the global launch of a new caliber, its first ever hi-beat GMT. Caliber 9S86 has been created on the platform of the hi-beat caliber 9S85 that, since 2009, has been the leading watch in the Grand Seiko collection. It has all the features of the previous caliber, with the addition of a 24-hour GMT hand with easy hour adjustment.
Grand Seiko is the very best of Seiko and due to its rapidly increasing success in Japan and its growing presence in Europe and other markets, the Grand Seiko collection is expanding in 2014 to include not only three new models with the hi-beat GMT caliber but also five new additions to the historical collection. Diverse though the new 2014 additions may be, they all express the simple yet powerful philosophy of Grand Seiko. The pure essentials of watchmaking, with craftsmanship and high technology manufacturing being harmonised to create watches that are as accurate, as legible, as comfortable and as durable as can be achieved.
The Hi-beat 36,000 GMT Limited Edition (SBGJ005), is the leading creation for this year, designed especially to celebrate the launch of the new caliber. In both performance and appearance, it expresses the very best of Seiko’s mechanical watchmaking. The caliber has a high accuracy of +5 to -3 seconds a day, 37 jewels, and a power reserve of 55 hours. The GMT hand can be used as a dual time indicator with the hour hand being adjustable independently as the time of day hands continue to mark time. It is the perfect watch for the international traveler. Two additional 9S86 creations were also released at Baselworld 2014, one with a white dial and one with black (SBGJ001,SBGJ003).
The announced price tag for Europe is 6,700 Euros (approximately $9,300) for the SBGJ001 or SBGJ003 models and 7,050 Euros (approximately $9,800) for the SBGJ005 (limited edition of 600 pcs).
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